Robert Christy, comp. Proverbs, Maxims and Phrases of All Ages. 1887.
Ass
A braying ass eats little hay.Italian.
A dull ass near home needs no spur.
A goaded ass must needs trot.French, Italian.
A living ass is better than a dead doctor.Italian.
A low ass is easy to ride on.Turkish.
A thistle is a fat salad for an ass’s mouth.
All asses do not go on four feet.German.
All asses have not long ears.German.
An ass covered with gold is more respected than a good horse with a pack saddle.
An ass does not hit himself twice against the same stone.Dutch.
An ass is but an ass though laden with gold.
An ass is cold even in the summer solstice.
An ass is the gravest beast, an owl the gravest bird.
An ass let him be who brays at an ass.
An ass loaded with gold climbs to the top of a castle.
An ass must be tied where the master will have him.
An ass’s tail will not make a sieve.Italian.
An ass that carries a load is better than a lion that devours men.
An ass that kicketh against the wall receiveth the blow himself.
An ass to an ass is a beauty.Latin.
An ass’s trot does not last long.Italian.
An ass was never cut out for a lap-dog.
An ass with her colt goes straight to the mill.Spanish.
Asses’ bridge.The fifth proposition of Euclid.
Asses carry the oats and horses eat them.Dutch.
Asses die and wolves bury them.
Asses must not be tied up with horses.French.
Asses sing badly because they pitch their voices too high.German.
Asses that bray most eat least.
Better an ass that carries me than a horse that throws me.German, Portuguese.
Better be killed by robbers than by the kick of asses.Portuguese.
Better have a bad ass than be your own ass.Spanish, Portuguese.
Better strive with an ill ass than carry the wood one’s self.
Die not, mine ass, for the spring-time is coming and with it clover.Turkish.
Either the ass will die or he that goads it.Spanish.
Even an ass will not fall twice in the same quicksand.
Even an ass loves to hear himself bray.
For a stubborn ass a hard goad.French.
For a stubborn ass a stubborn driver.French.
For an ass buffoon is the best teacher.German.
Give an ass oats and he runs after thistles.Dutch.
Good, good, but God keep my ass out of his rye.Spanish.
Hay is more acceptable to an ass than gold.Latin.
He that is good for something is the ass of the public.Italian.
He that makes himself an ass must not take it ill if men ride him.
Horses run after benefices and asses get them.French.
If any one say that one of thine ears is the ear of an ass regard it not; if he say so of them both procure thyself a bridle.
If one, two, three say you are an ass put on a bridle.Spanish.
It is better to strive with a stubborn ass than to carry the wood on one’s back.Spanish.
Lay the burden on the slow-paced ass.Latin.
Make yourself an ass and every one will lay a sack on you.German.
Many guests matter little to the ass of the inn.Woloffs.—(Africa.)
Nothing passes between asses but kicks.Italian.
One ass among monkeys is grinned at by all.Spanish.
One ass nicknames another long-ears.German.
One ass scratches another.Latin.
One’s own ass is better than his neighbor’s stallion.German.
Out of a little grass comes a great ass.German.
Put not an embroidered crupper on an ass.
Rather an ass that carries than a horse that throws.Italian.
“Rough as it runs,” as the boy said when his ass kicked him.
She was a neat dame that washed the ass’s face.
The ass and his driver do not think alike.German, Dutch.
The ass boasted there was no voice equal to his,
And no gait equal to that of his elder sister.Tamil.
The ass brays when he pleases.
The ass calls the cock big-headed.Modern Greek.
The ass carries corn to the mill and gets thistles.German.
The ass does not know the worth of his tail until he has lost it.Italian.
The ass embraced the thistle, and they found themselves relations.Portuguese.
The ass even eating oats dreams of thistles.German.
The ass is not learned though he be loaded with books.German.
The ass knows well in whose face he brays.Spanish.
The ass loaded with gold still eats thistles.German.
The ass of many owners is eaten by wolves.Spanish.
The ass of a king is still but an ass.German.
The ass that brays most eats least.
The ass that carrieth wine drinketh water.
The ass that is common property is always the worst saddled.
The ass that is hungry eats thistles.Portuguese.
The ass that trespasses on a stranger’s premises will leave them laden with wood; i.e., well cudgelled.Portuguese.
The ass’s hide is used to the stick.Spanish.
The ass’s son brays one hour daily.Portuguese, Latin.
The braying of an ass does not reach heaven.Italian.
The golden ass passes everywhere.
The golden covering does not make the ass a horse.German.
The mountaineer’s ass carries wine and drinks water.French.
The starving ass does not count the blows.Modern Greek.
There are more asses than carry sacks.Italian.
There goes more than one ass to market.
There is no ass but brays.Turkish.
What good can it do an ass to be called a lion?
What’s the use of putting honey in an ass’s mouth?German.
When all men say you are an ass, it is time to bray.
When the ass bears too light a load, he wants to lie down.Russian.
When the ass is too happy, he begins dancing on the ice.Dutch.
Wherever an ass falleth, there will he never fall again.
Wherever an ass is crowned to fame,
Both town and country bear the blame.German.
Who is in great haste should not ride an ass.German.
Who would save an ass against his will?Horace.